Argentina (2 pts)
Greece (4 pts)
Nigeria (6 pts)
South Korea (8 pts)
Friday, June 4, 2010
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Pool Party 2010
Get out your vuvezelas... after 4 long years the World Cup Friends Pool returns as the beautiful game's premiere tournament heads to the African continent for the first time.
Through three Champions League Finals and Euro2008 we've kept the torch lit since the original World Cup 2006 Friends Pool. If you're a returning pooler, you know the drill. If you're new, a quick browse through this blog's archive will give you a sense of how it works. Half the proceeds will go to L'Athlétique d'Haiti, a youth soccer program in the Cité Soleil and Bel Air slums of Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Click the image below (then click it again) to get a full-size view of the essential WC Pool info. We'll publish posts for Round 1 picks in a few weeks. The first matches are on Friday, June 11. Stay tuned...
Through three Champions League Finals and Euro2008 we've kept the torch lit since the original World Cup 2006 Friends Pool. If you're a returning pooler, you know the drill. If you're new, a quick browse through this blog's archive will give you a sense of how it works. Half the proceeds will go to L'Athlétique d'Haiti, a youth soccer program in the Cité Soleil and Bel Air slums of Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Click the image below (then click it again) to get a full-size view of the essential WC Pool info. We'll publish posts for Round 1 picks in a few weeks. The first matches are on Friday, June 11. Stay tuned...
World Cup Americanized
Tip of the hat to this great blog post translating each of the 32 World Cup teams into a corresponding American sports team. Click here for the link.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Cellar Dwellar
I thought you all might enjoy a quick recap of The Jerver's performance in these cup competitions since their inception four years ago. I have been known by many different team names over the years, starting as Perfect Pitch during the inaugural World Cup pool in 2006, moving on to SaMo in 2007 and 2008, then on to the current Crown City Football Club in 2009. Luckily for my competitors my performance has been more consistent than my nomenclature.
Take a look:
Champions League 2009: 8th Place (8 teams)
Euro 2008: Tied for 6th Place (8 teams)
Champions League 2008: 6th Place (11 teams)
Champions League 2007: 8th Place (8 teams)
World Cup 2006: Tied for 5th Place (9 teams)
In review, I started mediocre and got worse...fast.
Good luck to all who choose to enter this year's World Cup pool. It is evident that you will have to go through Pasadena to capture the cellar of the standings. Though despite remarkably poor performances in every single competition, Crown City continues to evade relegation to the second division pool and keeps alive a tradition of making cash contributions to friends and co-workers. The Continentalist is at least a bottle of Laphroiag heavier thanks to my reliably incorrect selections.
Ever confident of inevitable turnaround, checks can be made to Chris Jervey, Football Forecaster Extraordinaire.
On a brighter note...the World Cup is awesome. And right around the corner!
Take a look:
Champions League 2009: 8th Place (8 teams)
Euro 2008: Tied for 6th Place (8 teams)
Champions League 2008: 6th Place (11 teams)
Champions League 2007: 8th Place (8 teams)
World Cup 2006: Tied for 5th Place (9 teams)
In review, I started mediocre and got worse...fast.
Good luck to all who choose to enter this year's World Cup pool. It is evident that you will have to go through Pasadena to capture the cellar of the standings. Though despite remarkably poor performances in every single competition, Crown City continues to evade relegation to the second division pool and keeps alive a tradition of making cash contributions to friends and co-workers. The Continentalist is at least a bottle of Laphroiag heavier thanks to my reliably incorrect selections.
Ever confident of inevitable turnaround, checks can be made to Chris Jervey, Football Forecaster Extraordinaire.
On a brighter note...the World Cup is awesome. And right around the corner!
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Final Standings 2009
It was a tight race this year, but in the end the top three in the table were the teams which picked Barcelona to win the final from the very beginning. Congrats go out to the Continentalist who takes first place with a pretty remarkable 13-2 record. Through the years the Continentalist has been the most consistent of all the pool teams with a 1st place finish in the original 2006 World Cup Friends Pool, 2nd place finish in the 2007 CL Pool, and a final pick win away from taking it all in 2008 both in the CL and the Euros. As for us, we finished above mid to lower table for the first time -- guess it was inevitable with a Barcelona win. Props also to Claret & Blue for a third place finish in his pool debut. It's been a fun run, y'all. We've kept the torch lit since the 2006 World Cup to bridge the gap to South Africa 2010. We'll be passing it back to the Continentalist and hopefully be seeing you all next year when the stakes are much higher than best club in Europe. Cheers, RM.
Monday, June 1, 2009
¡¡¡ Barça, Barça, Barça !!!
Captain Puyol and the rest of the blaugrana hoist the trophy at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.
FC Barcelona 2-0 Manchester United FC
FC Barcelona surprised a great many in the football world with a comprehensive 2-0 victory over Manchester United in Rome to take the Champions League title away from the current holders and complete the historic treble. Having won the Spanish League and the Copa Del Rey the week before, Barcelona became the first Spanish side to add the European championship to the domestic double. Leading up to the match there was consensus among football punditry and experts alike that United were the favorites -- if not heavy favorites -- to repeat as European champions. Indeed there was not much one could argue to the contrary as the Catalans had managed only one goal in their previous 12 halves against English sides – their nifty passing and technical ability seemingly no match for the strength and defensive prowess of the top Premiership clubs. On this night however Barça found the breakthrough which had eluded them for much of the last three campaigns.
The pre-match debate as to Sir Alex’s planned tactics -- would he come out and attack Barça’s makeshift defense, or would he park the bus and defend in the hopes of scoring on a counter or free kick -– was answered decisively in the first ten minutes as United dominated the proceedings by launching wave after wave of attack on Barcelona’s net. However, against the run of play, in the 10th minute a clever run by Iniesta was finished when Samuel Eto’o juked past Vidic and fired a shot past Edwin van der Sar for Barça’s first goal. The surprise of the ensuing 80 minutes was that United never seemed to recover from the letdown of this initial concession and were unable to regain the initiative that had so clearly been theirs at the start. The nervy match was put out of reach in the 70th minute in an unlikely manner when 5’7” Lionel Messi deftly headed a beautifully served cross from Xavi for the blaugrana’s second and final goal.
Though it is difficult for me to put an exact finger on how Barça was able to control the majority of the match against such a strong United side, I think it is safe to say the battle was won in the midfield. Having already won the Euro 2008 tournament for Spain, Xavi and Iniesta are proving to be one of the most effective midfield tandems in world football. To their credit United seemed unwilling to hack away at the mighty mites the way that Chelsea had, and this extra bit of fairplay allowed the duo the space to orchestrate the passing game that has won Barça so many accolades this season.
Regardless of whether a cynic can question Barcelona’s right to play in the final after a terrible performance by the referee in the 2nd leg of the semifinal with Chelsea, no one can question the quality of the season that the Catalans assembled. Having beat their arch-rivals Real Madrid by an aggregate 8-2 in La Liga, they marched decisively through some of Europe’s stiffest competition on route to the CL title. They beat the reigning French champs Lyon 6-3 on aggregate, reigning German champs Bayern Munich 5-1 on aggregate, then defeated last year’s runners-up Chelsea, only to beat back-to-back English champs Manchester United in the final.
FC Barcelona have themselves said this is the greatest single season in the club’s long and storied history. After two trophy-less years and a steady decline in the club’s performance, Pep Guardiola’s rookie season at the helm could not have gone any better. His main challenge will be where to go from here.
As Cantona once explained to me, the football pendulum tends to swing back and forth between eras of attacking grace and those of stout, stodgy defense. With Spain’s dazzling conquest of the Euros and Barcelona’s capturing of this year’s CL title, joga bonito appears to be in the ascendency. Next year’s Champions League, and, most importantly, World Cup tournament will go a long way in determining how the current era is viewed in perpetuity. Personally, I’ve got my fingers crossed that the goal-scorer’s get their way.
The pre-match debate as to Sir Alex’s planned tactics -- would he come out and attack Barça’s makeshift defense, or would he park the bus and defend in the hopes of scoring on a counter or free kick -– was answered decisively in the first ten minutes as United dominated the proceedings by launching wave after wave of attack on Barcelona’s net. However, against the run of play, in the 10th minute a clever run by Iniesta was finished when Samuel Eto’o juked past Vidic and fired a shot past Edwin van der Sar for Barça’s first goal. The surprise of the ensuing 80 minutes was that United never seemed to recover from the letdown of this initial concession and were unable to regain the initiative that had so clearly been theirs at the start. The nervy match was put out of reach in the 70th minute in an unlikely manner when 5’7” Lionel Messi deftly headed a beautifully served cross from Xavi for the blaugrana’s second and final goal.
Though it is difficult for me to put an exact finger on how Barça was able to control the majority of the match against such a strong United side, I think it is safe to say the battle was won in the midfield. Having already won the Euro 2008 tournament for Spain, Xavi and Iniesta are proving to be one of the most effective midfield tandems in world football. To their credit United seemed unwilling to hack away at the mighty mites the way that Chelsea had, and this extra bit of fairplay allowed the duo the space to orchestrate the passing game that has won Barça so many accolades this season.
Regardless of whether a cynic can question Barcelona’s right to play in the final after a terrible performance by the referee in the 2nd leg of the semifinal with Chelsea, no one can question the quality of the season that the Catalans assembled. Having beat their arch-rivals Real Madrid by an aggregate 8-2 in La Liga, they marched decisively through some of Europe’s stiffest competition on route to the CL title. They beat the reigning French champs Lyon 6-3 on aggregate, reigning German champs Bayern Munich 5-1 on aggregate, then defeated last year’s runners-up Chelsea, only to beat back-to-back English champs Manchester United in the final.
FC Barcelona have themselves said this is the greatest single season in the club’s long and storied history. After two trophy-less years and a steady decline in the club’s performance, Pep Guardiola’s rookie season at the helm could not have gone any better. His main challenge will be where to go from here.
As Cantona once explained to me, the football pendulum tends to swing back and forth between eras of attacking grace and those of stout, stodgy defense. With Spain’s dazzling conquest of the Euros and Barcelona’s capturing of this year’s CL title, joga bonito appears to be in the ascendency. Next year’s Champions League, and, most importantly, World Cup tournament will go a long way in determining how the current era is viewed in perpetuity. Personally, I’ve got my fingers crossed that the goal-scorer’s get their way.
Real Marin celebrate Barça’s championship with a bottle (or two) of Spanish vino.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Round of 4 Pool Standings
It seems that each year the pool gets tighter and tighter, which may speak to the increasing football savviness of the participants. Coming off of two consecutive runner-up finishes, Cantona is poised to capture this year's pool if his beloved United can repeat as European champions. It also appears that the Bonus Pick (worth 3 pts.) could be a big factor in determining the prize-winners. With Cantona, Banana Island, and Team Auckland all having picked Manchester United to win it all, the Continentalist stands out in the second place pack as the only one to have picked Barça. What does this all mean? I'll leave it to you to ponder, but keep in mind that the final is worth 8 pts. United v. Barça is a dream match up for most of the world's football fans. With a little luck we'll get a more open contest than the two matches they played against each other in last year's semifinals. Enjoy. And to the many United fans in the pool -- may the best side win ;)
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Last 4 Results: Leg 2, Day 2
¡¡ Iniesta!!Chelsea 1-1 Barcelona {Agg: 1-1, Barcelona advance on away goals}
------------------------------Iniesta 90+3'
Wow.
Tough to sum this match up in a short post. Chelsea looked much more dangerous thoughout this match than they ever did at Camp Nou. Despite once again having very little possession, the Blues had many more good chances on net than Barça did. While Chelsea looked strong, they did very little to build up play from the back or midfield and their lone goal came on a brilliant -- but one-in-a-hundred -- strike from Michael Essien off a flukey deflection near the top of the box. However, after being held scoreless for 183 minutes, Andres Iniesta (who has been Barça's best player over the last month or more) scored the tie-winner in breathtaking fashion with Barcelona's first shot on target the entire night in the 3rd minute of extra time to send the blaugrana through.
If the first leg ended with Barcelona feeling they'd been robbed by the referee, tonight's match ended the same, but even more heatedly, for the Londoners. To be fair, the referee had a terrible game and Chelsea supporters will surely feel they were cheated out of an appearance in Rome through several missed penalty calls -- the most obvious omission being a hand ball by Pique late in the second half. But the bad decisions affected both sides as Barça's left back Eric Abidal was sent off with a ridiculous red on what appeared to be almost no contact in a challenge against Nicolas Anelka, leaving Barcelona to fend with only 10 men for almost 30 minutes. After the final whistle the Blues completely lost their composure with Didier Drogba flying in the face of the referee and yelling "It's a fucking disgrace" into the TV cameras.
In the end, people can bitch all they want about referees, but it was Chelsea's refusal to push for an away goal in Barcelona which left them exposed. This match will be debated for a long time to come, but the CL Final in Rome is a dream matchup for the neutral. Barça will be missing both their right and left backs-- Abidal and Dani Alves, respectively -- due to suspension (have I mentioned how much I hate the fact that cards are carried over into the final?).
Barcelona will certainly be considered the underdog as they are facing the in-form defending champions and have shown over the last few years to have a very difficult time scoring against English sides. Still, the final will feature the potent strength and attacking power of Manchester United against the finesse of the highest goal-scoring side in Europe in Barcelona. Mouth-watering to say the least.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Last 4 Results: Leg 2, Day 1
Park Ji-Sung all but ends the tie in the 8th minute.Arsenal 1-3 Manchester United {Agg: 1-4, Manchester United advance}
------------------------------Park 8'
------------------------------Ronaldo 11'
------------------------------Ronaldo 61'
Van Persie 76'
Manchester United proved to have too much power and class for Arsenal at the Emirates on Tuesday, putting the tie away with two goals inside the first 11 minutes. The rout started when Park Ji-Sung capitalized off young Gunner defender Kieron Gibbs' slip on a Ronaldo cross. Next the Emirates were stunned when Ronaldo nailed a scorcher of a free kick from well outside the area. Finally they sealed the tie early in the second half with a lightning counter attack that covered a ton of pitch in an instant: Ronaldo back flick-Park-Rooney-Ronaldo... match over. On a night which Arsene Wegner described as his worst in 25 years of managing, United dominated in every aspect and have surely shown they deserve to defend their title in Rome on May 27th. The only black mark for the Red Devils on an otherwise glorious night was the harsh red card given to Darren Fletcher for a tackle on Cesc Fabregas in the area which means the industrious Scottish midfielder will miss the final. Congrats to the United fans in the pool -- you have a lot to look forward to in your second consecutive CL Final appearance. Tomorrow we'll learn who will challenge you.
Monday, May 4, 2009
WB & Me
Wear it with pride.On the eve of the second legs of the semifinals, just thought I'd give a shout out to my peeps from WB. This is the shirt Cantona gave me in 2006 when I left for an LA stint. It was worn by an indoor team the studio fielded in 2000 which was eventually disbanded due to excessive injuries and a shallow bench. Along with the World Cup 2006 Friends Pool, it's what tipped me into following club football. Many good times at lunch watching World Cup matches at the J&B, and CL matches on the screening room's HD projection TV with Cantona, Banana Island, and Claret & Blue. In that spirit, the Continentalist and I'll be watching the second half of Arsenal v. United at Bobby G's in Berkeley tomorrow in case anyone can swing by.
Peace out, WB and x-WB'ers.
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